The G20 was formally established in September 1999 when finance ministers and central bank governors of seven major industrial countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States) met in Washington, D.C. in the aftermath of the financial crisis of 1997-1998, which showed that key developing countries were insufficiently involved in discussions and decisions concerning global economic issues.

In November 2008, a decision was made to change the format of G20 meetings and additionally hold leaders' summits (summits of heads of state and government), which has made the forum what it is today.

Which countries are members of the G20?

The G20 brings together finance ministers and central bank governors from 19 countries: Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Mexico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States of America plus the European Union.

How well does the G20 reflect non-member countries' interests?

The G20 host country identifies the countries to be invited as temporary invitees for the period of its presidency based on the following guidelines:

1) the number of invited non-member countries will not exceed five; 2) fair and balanced geographical representation; 3) countries presiding over regional forums, such as the African Union, ASEAN, APEC, etc., will be invited in the first place;

The Seoul summit formalized the participation of five non-members, of which at least two would be African countries.

In addition to attending the leaders' meetings, the invitees are involved from day one alongside G20 members in the drafting of summit decisions. Invitees also take part in working group discussions, Sherpas and Finance Ministers meetings.

Do international organizations participate in the G20?

The G20 maintains close relationship with formal international organizations, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank (WB), the Financial Stability Board, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the World Trade Organization (WTO), the United Nations and International Labor Organization (ILO) regularly take part in G20 meetings. Other international organizations are frequently also invited to participate in the premier forum.

What is the Outreach format?

To ensure legitimacy, transparency and efficiency of the G20 the Russian Presidency plans to hold extensive outreach consultations with all interested parties, including non-member countries, international organizations, private sector, trade unions, civil society, youth, think tanks and academia. Active interaction among all these groups - another innovation of the Russian Presidency - will generate a cross-sectoral synergy to enhance the public benefit of the G20.

How many Leaders' Summits have been held?

Until now seven G20 Leaders' Summits took place:

What issues are normally on the G20 speakers' agenda?

During the first G20 meeting in Washington, D.C., the G20 leaders discussed the causes of the global economic and financial crisis and agreed on an action plan to achieve three main objectives:

More specific issues for the summits are developed in Sherpas' Meetings, Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors' Meetings, Seminars and other Outreach events.

What are the G20's major achievements for today?

The G20's major achievements include strengthening the role of emerging economies, such as BRICS, reforming international financial institutions, improving discipline and tightening oversight over national financial institutions and regulators, improving the quality of financial regulations in economies whose regulatory problems led to the crisis, and creating financial and organizational safety nets to prevent severe economic slumps in the future.

When and where will the G20 Summit under the Russian Presidency be held?

The G20 Leaders' Summit will be held in St. Petersburg on September 5-6, 2013.

What priority issues and themes will Russia offer for consideration during its G20 presidency in 2013?

The core objective of the Russian Presidency is to concentrate the efforts of G20 - forum of the world's largest economies - on developing a set of measures aimed at boosting sustainable, inclusive and balanced growth and jobs creation around the world.

Russia believes that discussion on all the interconnected issues of the G20 agenda is organized around three overarching priorities, aimed at starting the new cycle of economic growth: - Growth through quality jobs and investment; - Growth through trust and transparency; - Growth through effective regulation.

The agenda for Russia's G20 presidency includes the following main items:

Russia will ensure continuity in discussions of all agenda items in order to facilitate the fulfillment of earlier commitments, and will make its own suggestions regarding how to address them.

To support the Russian Presidency's focus on boosting economic growth and job creation two new topics will be proposed for discussion within the above areas, including Financing for investment and Government borrowing and public debt sustainability.

How will the Russian Presidency of the G20 be organized?

Core work on agenda items will be performed by Sherpas and Finance Ministries. Sherpas meetings as well as meetings of Finance Ministers , their Deputies and Central Bank Governors will lay the groundwork for the Leaders' Summits. Russian Presidency has also proposed to hold a joint meeting of Finance and Labour Ministers.

What role do finance ministers play in the G20?

The Finance Track is composed of all G20 Finance Ministers and Central bank Governors who meet regularly during the year to discuss the current economic global problems and take coordinated actions towards their solutions. These meetings are attended also by International Organizations such as the IMF, World Bank, OECD or the Financial Stability Board.

The Finance Track in the G20 focuses on financial and economic issues; these include providing solutions to the current economic problems, economic stabilization and structural reforms, increasing international coordination for crisis prevention, correction of external, fiscal and financial imbalances, providing resources to increase global liquidity, and strengthening the international financial system.

Finance Ministers rely on the technical and substantive work of a series of expert working groups.

Who is the Sherpa?

The term is derived from the Sherpa people, a Nepalese ethnic group, who serve as guides and porters in the Himalayas. Sherpa is the personal representative of the Head of State and Government of the members of the G20.

The Sherpas' track focuses on political, non-financial issues, such as: employment, agriculture, energy, the fight against corruption and development, among others. The Sherpas carry out important planning, negotiation and implementation tasks throughout the entire process. They coordinate the agenda, seek consensus at the highest political levels and help negotiate the Leaders' positions.

Toward the end of the process, along with the Deputy Finance Ministers, the Sherpas prepare the final declaration statement and other supporting documents for the Leaders.

The Sherpas' track delegates technical and policy analysis to a series of working groups, made up of officials from each member country and international organizations.

The Sherpas are also responsible for holding frequent meetings with other relevant stakeholders, such as the business community, academic institutions and young people in order to facilitate an inclusive and representative dialogue.

Who is the Russian G20 Sherpa?

In compliance with Mr. Putin's order, Ksenia Yudaeva has been appointed the Representative of the President of the Russian Federation in the G20, the Russian Sherpa.

Ms. Yudaeva was appointed Chief of the Presidential Experts’ Directorate in mid-July, 2012. Her latest office was Senior Adviser to the President of Sberbank of Russia.

I can't get accredited through the website. Can I email my information to the Organising Committee of Russia's G20 Presidency?

Delegates and media representatives can be accredited for the G20 Summit only via the g20russia.ru website. Journalists should complete an accreditation request form in person.

Problems with completing the accreditation request form may be due to your computer settings.

What is the correct format of the accreditation letter?

The accreditation letter must be written on official letterhead, signed by the head of your media outlet, and addressed to the Organising Committee of Russia's G20 Presidency.

The letter may be written in any form, one letter for each journalist or for a group representing one media outlet (if the accreditation letter is filed for a group of journalists, stating their passport details is optional).

Do foreign journalists accredited with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs need to file an accreditation letter?

Moscow-based correspondents of foreign media accredited with the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs need to file an accreditation letter signed by the editor-in-chief of their Moscow bureau.

How many journalists from one media outlet can be accredited?

There is no limit to the number of journalists from one media outlet that can be accredited. Please note, however, that the number of journalist pools is limited. All accredited journalists will be able to work at the International Media Centre (IMC).

Can I apply for a visa immediately after filing an accreditation request?

You should apply for a visa only after receiving an email confirming your accreditation for the Summit.

Photo requirements

The photos must provide a clear, colour image taken against a plain light background. From top to bottom face must fill at least 80% of the photograph.

The advantage of choosing these hotels is that there will be free of charge shuttles from media hotels to the Accreditation Centre, International Press Centre (IMC) in Strelna, airport and railway stations of St.Petersburg.

Assistance with hotel reservation will be provided only to accredited media representatives wishing to stay at the recommended media hotels.

Relevant contact details of officials from the Media Division who are responsible for the hotel accommodation will be attached to the email confirming your accreditation.

You can also make a reservation at any St.Petersburg hotel of your choice.

All Summit events open to the press will be carried live by the host broadcast company. The company will also provide assistance in reserving and equipping TV cabins in the IMC.

The host broadcaster will also assist in the reservation of booths for stand-up positions, will ensure signal transmission from stand-up positions to international communication lines and will coordinate the deployment of mobile satellite stations. Cabins for TV and radio companies will be provided free of charge.

The International Media Centre (IMC) will be open on a 24 hour basis from midday on 4 September until midday on 7 September, 2013.

Will media representatives be charged for using the services provided by the International Media Centre?

All services at the International Media Centre will be provided to accredited journalists free of charge.

Personal workstations will be organized at the IMC and part of them will be equipped with computers connected to the internet and printers.

Throughout the IMC there will be high-speed Wi-Fi internet available free of charge.

Special closed circuit TV monitors will stream live broadcasts from event venues in the IMC.

Free-of-charge catering will be available to all journalists in the IMC.

Transportation

During the Summit all accredited journalists will be provided with free of charge shuttle transportation services.

This shuttle service will interconnect Pulkovo international airport (Terminal-2), Moscovsky and Finlandsky railway stations, the Accreditation centre, the International Media Centre in Strelna and the media hotels. Shuttle routes and schedule will be posted on the website prior to the Summit.

Host Photo Agency

The Host Photo Agency will provide high-quality photo images from all Presidency events which are open to the press. Photographs will be posted in the photo section of the official website of Russia's G20 Presidency immediately after the events.

Photos will be available for free download from the official website in high resolution. When publishing photos sourced from the official website a link to g20russia.ru should be included.

How can I learn more about Russian avant-garde art, which inspired the design of Russia's G20 Presidency logo?

The bold and dynamic design of the official logo of Russia's G20 Presidency is rooted in the traditions of the Russian avant-garde art.

The Summit 2013 section features materials from the St.Petersburg and Russian Avant-Garde Art digital collection put together by the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Library in cooperation with the State Russian Museum.

The collection features general studies on the history of Russian avant-garde art, as well as albums and exhibition catalogues on this art movement. Of special interest is content which conveys the spirit of that period, film footage of St.Petersburg in the first quarter of the 20th century, rare postcards featuring avant-garde art designs for public celebrations, as well as Wassily Kandinsky's autobiography, published in 1918. The collection also features the typewritten libretto of the futurist opera by Mikhail Matyushin and Alexei Kruchyonykh "Victory over the Sun" (1913) bearing the censor's stamp and notes.